CLASS OF 1991 | 2015 | ISSUE 3
Please write to your class secretary:
Renée K. Carl | rcarl@wesleyan.edu
Tag: 1991
CLASS OF 1991 | 2015 | ISSUE 2
Dear Classmates, this summer issue of class notes laments the news of the passing of another star in our small constellation. Dr. Katharine Kellond Roth, known as Katy, died on Dec. 15, 2014, after a long struggle with seizure disorder and Behçet’s Syndrome (an auto-immune disease). A resident of Washington, D.C., since 1997, Katy was a determined and devoted hospice and palliative care physician.
Originally from Delaware, Katy was the daughter of the late Senator William V. Roth, Jr. (R-DE) and Jane Richards Roth, a federal judge. She is survived by her husband of 16 years, Chris Weston ’92, and her sons, Nicholas and William.
My apologies to family and friends for the delay in this posting. Please send memories and stories for posting in a later issue, or other news of note.
JENNIFER ENTINE MATZ ’91
JENNIFER ENTINE MATZ, the director of waterfront development for the city of San Francisco, died Dec. 5, 2014, at age 45. She received her law degree from the University of Michigan Law School and worked at several firms before becoming the legislative aide to a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. As part of her waterfront development responsibilities, she oversaw $4 billion of waterfront development including the Warriors’ arena, the Giants’ Mission Rock development, and the rehabilitation of the historic shipyard. Survivors include her parents, Jean Marks Entine and Alan Entine, two children, her sister, and her grandmother.
CLASS OF 1991 | 2015 | ISSUE 1
Bayard Klimasmith reports that Betsy Klimasmith continues as a professor at UMASS Boston, and Bayard serves as an assistant principal at a middle school in Lexington. Their 16-year-old daughter is a junior and Wesleyan made her short list! Meanwhile, their 5-year-old is looking forward to kindergarten next year and “keeping us a lot younger than we had planned; we are in this parenting thing for a loooonnng more time!”
After working in the diplomatic arena as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs during the first term of the Obama Administration, Spencer “Kip” Boyer is enjoying his deep dive into national security. He’s taken the position of National Intelligence Officer for Europe in the National Intelligence Council, the center for long range strategic thinking within the U.S. intelligence community. He’s also an assistant adjunct professor at the BMW Center for German and European Studies at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
Jeremy Sacks, preeminent host of Portland, Oregon, welcomed Nicki and Jim Miller to town to “watch the worst Celtics team of our lifetimes defeat my Blazers. After that, we tasted a boatload of beers in Astoria and Portland, visited a craft bike shop with a beer bar and projection room, and ate well. No, Fred and Carrie weren’t there in person. A good time was had by all.”
Also taking Jeremy up on his hospitality was Scott Timberg, who lives in LA with wife Sara and son Ian, 8. Scott’s book Culture Crash: The Killing of the Creative Class, came out with Yale University Press in January, to great acclaim. Subtitled How Sweeping Economic and Social Changes Are Imperiling Artists, Writers, Musicians, and America, the book digs into the roots of what is happening to artists, from the economic recession to social shifts to technological change. Most importantly, he explains why this matters: “When artists and artisans can’t make a living, we all pay the price.”
Jeremy Arnold continues working as a writer for Turner Classic Movies’ website, and his book Lawrence of Arabia: The 50th Anniversary was published by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment in 2012. You will also be able to find Jeremy providing audio commentary on a restoration of Alfred Hitchcock’s Jamaica Inn, being released in May.
In September 2014, Drew Marrochello was officially named Boston University’s director of athletics. Drew joined the BU athletic department in 2005 and is the 13th athletic director in Boston University history.
As many of you read on Facebook or the Class Notes listserv, we lost one of our own in 2014: Jennifer Entine Matz. Bayard sent me this warm-hearted remembrance, “We were housemates senior year and, besides her disdain for the mac and cheese (with mustard and frozen peas) that Joseph and I made, she was just…awesome. A serious loss. A star just went out in our constellation.”
Renée K. Carl | rcarl@wesleyan.edu
CLASS OF 1991 | 2014 | ISSUE 3
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Newsmaker: Robin Delman Ekiss ’91 |
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Robin Delman Ekiss ’91 received one of only six 2007 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Awards. The foundation selects women who demonstrate excellence and promise at the beginning of their writing careers. Ekiss, whose poems have appeared in Atlantic Monthly, Poetry, Ploughshares, and Triquarterly, is finishing her first book of poetry, The Mansion of Happiness. |
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Newsmaker: Daniel B. Prieto ’91 |
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Daniel B. Prieto ’91, an adjunct senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations, is the author of the newly released CFR report, War About Terror: Civil Liberties and National Security After 9/11. The report addresses a range of issues—from Guantanamo to warantless wiretapping—and how to maintain America¹s longstanding democratic traditions while protecting it from real and serious threats. To download a copy, go to www.cfr.org/war_about_terror. Prieto, who worked for over two years on the politically-charged project, earned his Wesleyan degree in the College of Social Studies and his master’s from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). |
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Newsmaker: Catherine Rob Rogers ’91 |
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Catherine Rob Rogers ’91, a Laramie County, Wyo., Circuit Court Magistrate and a private practice attorney, was appointed to the First Judicial District Court by Gov. Dave Freudenthal last September. In a Wyoming Tribune Eagle article, Freudenthal praised her, saying, “Her reputation for honesty and ethics is of the highest order. What makes her uniquely qualified is that the Circuit Court is really the people’s court, and she has a great people sense about her.” A sociology major as an undergraduate, she earned a JD from the University of Wyoming College of Law and was admitted to the Wyoming State Bar in 1998. “I am humbled by the Governor’s confidence in me, and I will do my best to serve the judiciary and the people of Laramie County with fairness, courtesy and a commitment to equal justice,” Rogers said. She is married to Kevin Ohlson ’90. |
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Newsmaker: Stephen K. Friedman ’91 |
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Stephen K. Friedman ’91 has been promoted to president of MTV. Since the fall of 2008, he has been general manager, and he will now oversee MTV, MTV2, mtvU, MTV.com, MTV Hits and MTV Jams. During Friedman’s tenure, MTV has had five consecutive quarters of growth, and launched such successful shows as Teen Mom, 16 and Pregnant, Life as Liz, and the upcoming Teen Wolf. He joined MTV in 1998 and started MTV’s strategic partnerships and public affairs department. As general manager, he launched mtvU, the channel dedicated to college students, in 2004, and helped shape the channel’s Emmy Award-winning Sudan campaign to protest genocide in Darfur. In announcing his promotion, The Los Angeles Times writes: “Over the years, [Friedman] has been instrumental in many of MTV’s social and political causes. … He was deeply involved in MTV’s award-winning ‘Fight for Your Rights’ campaign and its ‘Choose or Lose’ political drive.” Before joining MTV, Friedman was director for the PEN American Center, an international writers’ human rights organization. At Wesleyan, he majored in the College of Letters. |
![Newsmaker: Stephen K. Friedman ’91 Stephen K. Friedman ’91 has been promoted to president of MTV. Since the fall of 2008, he has been general manager, and he will now oversee MTV, MTV2, mtvU, MTV.com, MTV Hits and MTV Jams. During Friedman’s tenure, MTV has had five consecutive quarters of growth, and launched such successful shows as Teen Mom, 16 and Pregnant, Life as Liz, and the upcoming Teen Wolf. He joined MTV in 1998 and started MTV’s strategic partnerships and public affairs department. As general manager, he launched mtvU, the channel dedicated to college students, in 2004, and helped shape the channel’s Emmy Award-winning Sudan campaign to protest genocide in Darfur. In announcing his promotion, The Los Angeles Times writes: “Over the years, [Friedman] has been instrumental in many of MTV’s social and political causes. ... He was deeply involved in MTV’s award-winning ‘Fight for Your Rights’ campaign and its ‘Choose or Lose’ political drive.” Before joining MTV, Friedman was director for the PEN American Center, an international writers’ human rights organization. At Wesleyan, he majored in the College of Letters.](http://classnotes.blogs.wesleyan.edu/files/2014/09/friedman.jpg)
Beth Haney is now operations director for Free Bikes 4 Kidz, a Minnesota nonprofit that cleans, refurbishes, and gives away gently used bikes to kids—5,000 bikes in 2013! If you live in the Twin Cities and have mad bike repair skills, or are good at cleaning and shining, Beth would love you to help out. Free Bikes 4 Kidz is also working on expanding to other cities across the US. Details are at fb4k.org.
Drew Marrochello has been appointed director of athletics at Boston University, where he has worked since 2005. According to BU Today, “Athletically, my goal is for BU to be viewed as the best non-football-playing Division I school in the nation.”
Meanwhile, I’ve had a crazy, busy, and challenging couple of months working as a researcher for the second season of the PBS production Genealogy Road Show, uncovering family histories and mysteries in St. Louis, New Orleans, and Philadelphia. Shows will air in early 2015.
And that’s it! Write me with your news.
Renée K. Carl | rcarl@wesleyan.edu
BRIAN LENHARD ’91
BRIAN LENHARD, an attorney and computer programmer, died Mar. 13, 2014, at age 44. After graduating from Wesleyan he worked at Continental Life Insurance Company and earned an MBA from Villanova University at the same time. A gifted computer programmer, he founded Grayson Consulting and Lightning Bolt Software. He then attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School, from which he graduated in 2004. He clerked for the Honorable Vice Chancellor Stephen P. Lamb in the Delaware Court of Chancery before becoming a commercial litigator at Skadden, Arps in Wilmington, Del. He spent time on pro bono matters and helped with adoption services and children’s literacy programs. He served as general counsel of Lightning Bolt Software, and he and his wife also founded Lenhard/Clark Legal Services. He was an enthusiastic outdoorsman as well. Survivors include his wife, Melissa Dodds Lenhard, two children, his parents, his brother, and two nieces.
CLASS OF 1991 | 2014 | ISSUE 2
Happy spring? I wonder as I compile the notes. I do hope it’s here to stay once this column hits your mailbox. There are far more interesting things to read than the weather, so here we go:
Carol Sherwin writes, “I just finished a two-year stint in the retail sector; working in a department store environment has been the toughest career to date, and for anyone keeping score I now count at least five, including: “mad scientist” at Consumer Reports Magazine, clinical professor at NYU, business strategy consultant and HR director. Not sure of my next step, I headed back to where it all started and attended Connect@Wes, a two-day seminar. I hadn’t been back to campus in more than 10 years, and it is as beautiful as ever. I ran into Cecilia Pohorille McCall, who is doing very interesting work that draws on her legal training.
“While on campus, I participated in the “speed interviewing program organized by the Career Center and got to check in with our class’ dean, Meg Zocco, who now works in University Relations. So many surprises on campus: a moment of silence for Mocon; a moment of amazement at the coffee bar/sandwich shop in the Science Center lobby. And everyone has a laptop….”
Carol adds that she still lives in Westchester, N.Y., with her husband of 17 years and while she figures out her next career step, she’ll continue her volunteer work for Wesleyan, conducting alumni interviews for prospective students, “I joined WAAV six months after we graduated and have never failed to learn something from interviewing a student!”
Kristin Sandvik Lush was in Tokyo in autumn 2013, and when she posted on Facebook “I’m in Tokyo,” Sarah Sutter responded “OK! Where can we meet up?” Kristin and Sarah connected in person over the course of the time Kristin was in Japan. The impromptu visit concluded with a gathering at an izakaya in Kanda later in the week. “It was great to see her—it had been 20+ years!”
Kristin adds, “Upon my arrival, my former student asked, “What do you want to do in Tokyo?” I hadn’t done any pre-tour homework, until I met up with Sarah, and she wrote out a Cool-Things-to-See-and-Do list, with a key train stations map on the back! Who needs Lonely Planet when you’ve got a frosh year WestColleague with local knowledge?! I’m looking forward to her spending a holiday with us in New Zealand!”
Sarah continues to teach at the American School in Japan. Some of her photos were published in The Sky Unchanged, a collection of photographs, interviews and tanka poems from survivors of the 3/11 triple disasters. The poems are printed in Japanese and English, but the interviews are only in Japanese. You can view Sarah’s photos in the book here: bookclub.kodansha.co.jp/books/topics/kawaranaisora/.
Michelle Lockhart has been busy in Texas launching Charlotte Max Designs, named for her grandmother. Michelle took her love of 1950s vintage Lucite handbags and accessories and updated them with bright colors and contemporary lines. Look for them in museum stores and at charlottemax.com. “We are proud that all of our products are handmade in the US and cruelty-free.”
Alexander Levi a hybrid 1990–91 grad, shares “recent highlights of a very Wesleyan-rooted adventure in creative, innovative, professional success: after practicing 10 years in Spain and five years in NYC, my studio, SLO Architecture, is winning awards: Harvest Dome 2.0 won the 2013 Dwell Vision Award and the 2014 AIANY Design Award; Bronx River Right-of-Way won an unprecedented second Blinder Award from the James Marston Fitch Foundation; and SLO is almost done with the construction of an integrated art installation for an elevated NYC Subway stop in the Bronx, the Cross-Bronx Waterway.”
More awards for classmates: Andrew Junke won this year’s Marvin B. Sussman Best Dissertation Award from Yale University’s sociology department. He will give a lecture at Yale in conjunction with the award. Brian Howell has been promoted to full professor at Wheaton College in Illinois.
Dan Prieto, Jerome Copulsky and Jeff Hayes spent a “what happens in…” style weekend in New Orleans in March. Not long after that, Jerome and Dan hosted Jeremy Sacks in DC, when he was in town from Portland, Oregon. Of note, they were sitting across the bar from Sting, who was in town for a concert.
Stuart Rockoff is now executive director of the Mississippi Humanities Council. He and wife Susan live in Jackson with their two daughters. A few hours away, Laurie Woods lives in Oxford, Miss., with her Mississippi-native husband. She teaches a very small class (three boys) of elementary students at a Montessori school and will soon begin a master of education in literacy with the goal of becoming a literacy specialist.
Jennifer Fletcher completed a Master of Teaching degree at the University of Sydney in 2013 and teaches high school English. She recently took her family to their first baseball game in Australia! Jennifer excitedly reports, “We (Team Australia–notice my shifted allegiance) thrashed the Diamondbacks.”
After 10 years raising children, Debby Popkin is practicing midwifery again and finally fulfilling her dream of attending home births, along with Lillian Siegel, ’08, CNM. You can find them in the Southington, Conn. area.
I close this issue with sad news. Brain Lenhard died suddenly on March 13, 2014. Brian lived in Wilmington, Del., and his loss is mourned by his wife, Melissa Dodds Lenhard, and children Nicholas and Caroline. If you’d like to share a story about Brian, I would be happy to publish it in the next issue of class notes.
Renée K. Carl | rcarl@wesleyan.edu
KIM-MARIE MARSH WALKER ’91
KIM-MARIE MARSH WALKER was born on October 7, 1969 at Misericordia Hospital, Bronx, New York to Darlene P. Huger Marsh and Arthur Marsh, Jr. The eldest of three siblings, Kim seemed to be one of those rare individuals born with incredible gifts of creativity, intelligence and leadership.
Kim attended P.S. 85 in the NYC public school system. Accepted to the Prep for Prep Program, Kim entered the Birch Wathen Private School for grades 7-12, graduating and making her mark as Class Valedictorian. As a student at Wesleyan University, Kim-Marie often demonstrated a very special ability to give of herself to others. She participated in the Big Sister/Little Sister program. Pursuing her aspiration to become lawyer, Kim-Marie received her law degree form Northeastern Law School. During her time there she also rose to the position of President of Northeastern chapter of BLSA (Black Law Student Association) and Regional Director of the National Black Law Students Association.
Kim-Marie was admitted to the Bar in the states of Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, the District of Columbia, and the Supreme Court. She was a member of the American Bar, DC and Maryland Bar Associations. Practicing her profession, Kim-Marie worked for the Legal Aid Society in NY, advocating for the rights of juveniles, served as Law Clerk for Judge Mott, Washington D.C., was an attorney in the Office of Corporation Counsel and, at the time of her passing, was an Associate at the Law Firm of Anthony Davenport, ESQ, P.C., Washington, DC.
While Law was a major part of her life, family was the joy of her life. The joy erupted even more when she met and then married her all too brief life partner, Ray Walker, on December 18, 1999. What a delight it was for her to send greetings to others under the signature, “The Walkers” Ray, Kim-Marie, Sapphyra and Ena.
Kim-Marie had long ago received Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. Her willingness to openly share her faith caused many around her to more personally embrace that faith as well. She had an almost uncanny ability to touch others in meaningful ways. She also possessed an acerbic wit that sometimes stung but always loved.
Even in the midst of illness and pain, Kim-Marie cheered others along. She has fought a good fight and kept the faith. On Sunday, January 16, 2005, just as the light of the new day dawned, with her God-mother’s arms wrapped around her, Kim-Marie smiled one last earth-bound smile as her spirit rose up to go into the arms of her Lord. She entered into her rest with such a glory and peace on her countenance that could only have come from God.
The list of individuals and people groups who will cherish the memory of Kim-Marie Walker is far too numerous to record. But highlighted among them are most certainly her beloved husband, Ray, the children she so adored and loved with all her heart, 9 year old Sapphyra Imani and 2 year old Ena Patrice; her mother Darlene Huger Marsh, father, Arthur Marsh, Jr, mother-in law and father-in-law, Ena and Ralph Walker; her brother, Cairo K. Marsh and sister, Dara K. Marsh; Grandmother, Rev. Odessa L. Huger, Uncle, Raymond Huger; Aunts, Rev. Dr. Brenda Huger Hazel, Josephine Claybon, Karen Huger and Hilda Brown, Great Aunt Dorothy Stewart and cousins who were more like another brother and sisters, George Hazel, Tracey Fuller and Renee Huger; her brother in law, Ralph (Jr.) Walker, other loving relatives and a true host of friends.
We celebrate your life, Kim-Marie!
SHARON L. CAMPBELL-EVANS ’91
Sharon L. Campbell-Evans, a class dean in the undergraduate divisions at Columbia University, died Feb 10, 2008, after a two-year battle with breast cancer. She was 38. Elected Secretary of the Class of 1991, she was an English major and earned her master’s degree at Teachers College, Columbia University. Subsequently, she joined the Office of Residential and Campus Life at Colgate University. She is survived by her husband, Clayton B. Evans, their son, and her mother.
Class of 1991 | 2014 | Issue 1
We’ll start off Notes with not one, but two reports from campus:
Tibby Erda Mahler went to Homecoming 2013 and watched Wesleyan beat Williams and win the Little Three outright. A former student of hers plays on the team and Tibby’s son is a quarterback, so she has a whole new appreciation for football. “Campus looked awesome. We ventured down to the ‘new’ fieldhouse and watched volleyball, as my 12-year-old is a player and wanted to see a college game. Felt great to be back on campus. Hard to believe either of my kids could be there in five or six years. I’d be honored, as would my husband and my dad.”
Meanwhile, our very own Trustee, Dan Prieto, has been up to campus twice for board meetings. He’s been impressed by campus and the students. Dan serves on the University Relations Committee, focused on improving career resources for students and improving connectivity between students and alumni in their fields of interest. Dan asks, “If any folks from our class are willing to engage students to get them interested in particular career fields, let me know. We’re starting career-centered Facebook groups to bring alumni and students together. First one out of the gate is WesCareers Finance.”
Moving into the world of art and entertainment, Evie Manieri reports that the mass market paperback of her debut novel, Blood’s Pride, comes out from Tor Books in late January 2014.
Suki Stetson Hawley has been making films with her husband, Michael Galinsky, and partner David Beilinson, for 15 years under the company name Rumur. Together, they’ve made five documentary features and lots of shorts. Three recent efforts include: Battle for Brooklyn, shortlisted for an Academy Award in 2012. It’s the story of reluctant activist Daniel Goldstein as he struggles to save his home and community from being demolished to make way for a basketball arena and the densest real estate development in U.S. history. Along the way, he falls in love, gets married and starts a family while living in a vacated building in the heart of Brooklyn. Who Took Johnny premiers at Slamdance in January 2014, and examines the infamous case of Johnny Gosch, the first missing child to appear on a milk carton. Finally, they are launching a kickstarter campaign for Story of Pain, delving into the state of mind-body medicine in our culture and healthcare system.
Eva Pendleton has a new position as Manager of Integrative Health at NYU Clinical Cancer Center, responsible for developing and overseeing programs to help support patients during and after their cancer journey, including massage therapy, acupuncture, yoga and meditation.
Alisa Rosen is celebrating the first birthday of her daughter, Sophie Anna, in February.
Deborah Sue Mayer is concluding a nine-month deployment as a commander in the U.S. Navy assigned as the Deputy Staff Judge Advocate for Joint Task Force Guantanamo. By the time of publication, she will be back to her job as the director of investigations for the Committee on Ethics, U.S. House of Representatives, and her new house in Alexandria, Va.
Lindsey Cowell Parsons is now the program coordinator at the Center for Australian, New Zealand, and Pacific Studies at Georgetown University. Speaking of New Zealand, Kristin Elisabeth Sandvik Lush announces an open invitation to couch surf in Aotearoa.
Finally, a bit of news about me: After years in policy and politics, I needed a change. I took some time off and worked on a long-standing project, trying to figure out where in “Russia” my family originated. It became an obsessive, fascinating project ranging across multiple countries in Eastern Europe. Friends asked me to help them, then friends started paying me to help them, and easterneuropeanmutt.com was born. Never in a million years would I have predicted I would become a genealogist! I absolutely love learning the history of family migration, and finding the little stories that make each experience unique.
All the best to everyone—don’t forget to write!
Renée K. Carl
rcarl@wesleyan.edu